Every year, the International Federation of Health Plans — a global insurance trade association that includes more than 100 insurers in 25 countries — releases survey data showing the prices that insurers are actually paying for different drugs, devices, and medical services in different countries. And every year, the data is shocking.

The IFHP just released the data for 2012. And yes, once again, the numbers are shocking.

Phi Beta Iota: The explanation is simple: the US Congress and the two political parties that exclude all others from voice and vote, are in collusion with the health industry, which is known to waste 50 per cent of every health dollar while charging outrageous prices that comprise the baseline for their 5% kickbacks to Congress. Individuals are not held accountable for personal health, and communities and organizations are not held accountable for localized environmental health, at the same time that natural and alternative cures are blocked by lobbyists and Congress routinely betrays the public trust by authorizing a multitude of practices that are known to be toxic — including the routine distribution of toxins into water, food, and everyday products.